Rajinikanth Congratulates Tamil Nadu Govt for Action Against Youtube Channel Karuppar Koottam
Aday after the Tamil Nadu cyber crime branch removed all videos from Youtube channel Karuppar Kootam run by Periyarists, Rajinikanth congratulates the AIADMK Government for action taken against it. In a tweet, Rajinikanth said – “The video from Karuppar Kootam had hurt the sentiments of crores of Tamils. At least now, may the practice of lambasting Gods go away.”
Karuppar Kootam is a Youtube channel, which posted content predominantly critical of Hindu traditions, practices and rituals. It was in this context that Surendar Natarajan, apparently a Periyar supporter, put out a video on July 13 about ‘Kanda Shashti Kavasam’, a traditional Tamil song with lyrics sung in praise of Hindu Lord Murugan.
Natarajan went on to describe how the ‘Kanda Shashti Kavasam’ had vulgar and obscene expressions in its lyrics. Seen as a group highly critical of Hindu practices but never intolerably extreme, the Karuppar Kootam lost some of its support after the video. However, a Karuppar Kootam member D Karthik on Wednesday filed for anticipatory bail claiming he has nothing to do with the video in question.
A case was filed by the BJP demanding that people behind the video be arrested and added that the video “hurt religious sentiments”. Two people were arrested by the Central Crime Branch. Later, all the videos posted in the YouTube channel were removed.
With Rajinikanth’s latest comments, the issue has once again turned political with the Tamil Nadu BJP unit welcoming Rajiniknath’s statement. “Though it is late, Rajinikanth has reacted to the incident. This shows clearly that Rajinikanth is serious about his political entry,” said Narayanan Tirupathi, Spokesperson, BJP.
When the controversy over the issue had erupted, the ruling AIADMK did not issue a statement while the DMK (which was accused of siding with the channel) had asserted that it had nothing to do with the YouTube channel and qualified the video as being hurtful to the sentiments of believers.
In March, Rajinikanth had said that he never aspired to become Chief Minister, his intention at starting a party was to pave the way for youngsters to lead the state.
While the actor hasn’t yet announced the launch of his party, he has been making political statements. In May, the actor warned the ruling AIADMK against the opening of liquor shops in view of the surge in coronavirus cases. “The AIADMK cannot come back to power again if the government allows the opening of TASMAC shops,” the actor then tweeted.